The Wildlife Rescue Center was very busy in 2010 and it was also very successful. We received 116 injured, sick, or orphaned animals, which is 37 more than we received in 2009. Most of them were titi monkeys and both species of sloths, the 3 toed and the 2 toed. However we also treated porcupines, kinkajous, white face monkeys, howler monkeys, ocelots (a wild cat also know as the Dwarf Leopard), and even one otter, among others! Our success rate is increasing year after year, right now with a remarkable statistic of over 50% release percentage. We feel very enthusiastic by this number considering that other wildlife rescue centers barely release up to third of the animals accepted.

This article aims to provide information about what to do if you are given a transit fine that you think you do not deserve. Or, at least, which legal strategy you can follow to delay or avoid the payment.

NOTE: This procedure of “IMPUGNACION DE MULTA DE TRANSITO”, works mainly (or only) for fines where there is not a definite proof of your responsibility of committing the infringement. Your chances of winning are scarce, in cases of: getting caught with the radar driving at 120 km an hour, speeding in front of a school or driving under the influence of alcohol (and you are tested), among others.

After you are given the fine, you have 10 days to appeal it (IMPUGNACION DE MULTA DE TRANSITO).

Cabbage rolls are a favorite of mine, having grown up with a Polish mother. I guess that puts them in the category of comfort food for me. It’s a good dish to make here in Costa Rica because the ingredients are both cheap and readily available (except for caraway seeds, which are only sporadically available).

I have written previously about the fantastic sportsfishing available in the waters around Quepos and Manuel Antonio. International Game Fish Association world records have been held over the years in both flyfishing and “conventional” fishing by Puerto Quepos fishermen. The abundance of billfish in the area makes Quepos one of the premier spots in the world for flyfishing with anglers successfully catching (and releasing) sailfish and marlin caught on the fly. Quepos annually hosts the Gray International Flyfishing Tournament that was started as a memorial tournament to recognize Jim Gray a local flyfisherman and IFGA recordholder and a pioneer in saltwater flyfishing. Next month Quepos will host the Costa Rica Classic International Billfish Tournament (www.costaricaclassic.com) benefiting the Boomer Esiason Foundation. All the money raised in this tournament stays in Costa Rica to help those suffering from cystic fibrosis.

These Horoscopes are meant to be fun and enjoyed. They should not be taken too seriously.

AQUARIUS – January 20-February 18

Don’t trust little birdies…they are renounced liars. Protesting is about to become important to you, as is writing witty slogans on placards something you are very good at if you can get the right pens.

RULING GEMSTONE: AMETHYST

PISCES – February 19-March 20

2011 offers the prospects of at least 4 once in a lifetime opportunities. Be ready. Beware of arguments while playing Monopoly this month, especially if you have just rolled a 6. And always choose the dog as your monopoly marker.

The time has come for this ocean treasure and the year starts with a decent number on the reports. From now until April, boats will chase more Sailfish than any other months of the year. Only in the first two weeks of January, Ojaran II and Ojaran III have released 19 Sailfish. They have come joined with a Marlin and rarely a Mahi-Mahi. This is not really the a good times for Tuna lovers so; we definitely stand up for Billfish during these months and Marlin has been showing up too. The first two weeks in January were nice for Captain Rocco and mate who released 5 Marlin around 200 and 300 pounds on the Ojaran II. Cold water has been enemy number one when looking for a nice Mahi-Mahi these days. Even in those conditions, truly expert captains and mates have found warmer rips where Dorado have been boated. Inshore fishing lovers will be fascinated with the great opportunities to catch a delicious Spanish mackerel. Daily fishing reports stand from 10 to 25 Mackerels in one boat. Ojaran II had 16 on January 12th. Real Deal came back water to catch a couple of Roosterfish the second week of January. Amberjacks have been present too.

If you want to join our number one crews in a fishing adventure, contact Luna Tours Sportfishing at Hotel Best Western Kamuk lobby, downtown Quepos central. Book now Ojaran II, Ojaran III, Magic Moon and the Reel Deal (27 ft to 33ft) on full days or half day charters. We also arrange other boats for charter up to 46 ft. Contact us at 2777-0725 (office), 8869-4808 (24 hour cell) and visit our web site www.lunatours.net. And remember, old fishermen never die. They just smell that way!

Bienvenidos/Welcome to Paradise. How lucky you are to be visiting the Quepos/Manuel Antonio area. We hope that your vacation is a wonderful experience………..you have come to the right place for exciting tours like rafting, sportfishing, & canopy zip line – just to name a few!………we also have the most enticingrestaurants with delicious meals-culinary delights – no fast food here! made of the freshest seafood including International, Fusion, Sushi, Thai, Tipico Costa Rican, Tex-Mex – we have it all………..not to mention lots of ice cold libations! This being the month for Lovers & Friendship with Valentine’s Day check our ads for those offering a very special dinner for those romantics – you will also find great live music in both Quepos & Manuel Antonio almost every day of the week including– wonderful classical guitar with Rafa at Victoria’s, Live Music on Monday& Belly Dancing on Thursday at Bogart’s, lots of dancing on Weds with Benjammin & the Howlers At Dos Locos so check our Niven’s Musical Notes on the left sidebar……….for those looking for the Super BowlGame we suggest El Gran Escape, Wacky Wanda’s,Byblos just to name a few…….Our local animal rescue group PAWS would like to invite you to visit with them every Saturday on the seawall at the Feria – come see the animals for adoption and learn about PAWS – you can also volunteer to help if you will be staying for awhile…. we would like to thank Gil Westreich of The Silk Shop at the beach for the photo of the Saddleback Caterpillar which makes our cover –watch out for these colorful little guys as they have a nasty sting!……..we hope you enjoy your visit –stay in touch with our website when you return home……..we welcome your comments – ciao……….P

This current situation with Nicaragua makes me feel like I am witnessing some mean, underfed yet frightening school bully stealing lunch money from the timid, studious kid the next barrio over. The powerless one—Costa Rica– offers no resistance, hands over his change, and looks about pleadingly for help, for some authority figure or big brother/mentor to step in and make things right but no help is forthcoming. Meanwhile, the dull bully –Nicaragua– flexes his angry anemic muscle as Costa Rica waits and waits patiently for someone to come and put the meanie in his place. I love this country, but I don’t love the wimpiness, the “turn the other cheek for we are a trembling but proud people of peace” image we seem to be cultivating. Our answer to this illegal occupation of a small piece of Costa Rica has been to….wave flags. We lack toughness. It’s a brutal world out there and too often the Costa Rican response to turmoil is to seek immediate refuge. And while I have no solution to aggressive neighbors, I do have an idea how Costa Rica can assert itself and show some huevos on the international stage.Read More…

The patter of raindrops lightly pelting the leaves far above our heads was the first warning of a change in weather. It would take a minute or two for the rain to filter down 50 meters, through the layers of canopy to the jungle floor. We covered our binoculars with plastic bags.

“Maybe it’ll pass,” I offered weakly.

“You think so?” queried John, hopefully.

“No, not really, but let’s wait and see. When the rain comes this early in the day, it’s not usually a passing shower. If we go back, we’ll be soaked by the time we get to the house anyway, so we might just as well wait a while and see.”

Practicing the type of yoga that is right for you will improve your life. Some enter a yoga practice in search of physical improvement, and some are searching for a deeper spiritual involvement. Many find their way into some of both. It is truly unimportant what physical shape that you are in, or whether or not you believe or disbelieve in any type of higher power. All that is important to practice yoga is showing up on your mat and letting your practice unfold.

In my practice as Holistic practitioner and Body Worker I see many people with lower back pain. There can be many causes of back pain and finding what triggers it is crucial for long lasting relieve. I believe that a real solution for any health issue needs to be found by addressing our being as whole. Body mechanics unbalance, unhealthy inner chemical balance and emotional discomfort can all participate to create diseases and pains. While long lasting results can require a professional assessment there are few simple tricks that can help you managing lower back pain.

Kids Saving the Rainforest recently partnered with Blue Banyan Inn, an environmentally friendly bed and breakfast located right outside of Manuel Antonio.

The Blue Banyan is part of a 75-acre ecologically sustainable community, encompassing KSTR’s new Wildlife Sanctuary and International Volunteer Center, tilapia farms, nurseries, and botanical gardens. As a KSTR volunteer, I spent part of my time volunteering at the Blue Banyan Inn, helping them move towards their goal of becoming fully self-sustainable. My primary job, along with Rodrigo and Tio, two of the workers on staff, was to harvest a food source for the animals housed at the sanctuary.

In 1984, I was assigned to work in the dusty, smelly, broken down Pacific banana port of Quepos, which seemed to me then to be the veritable armpit of Costa Rica — it was far from being the shiny tourist paradise it is today. That year, it was my good fortune to be recruited to organize the first oil palm production cooperative in Costa Rica, thus ending the United Fruit Company/Chiquita Banana monopoly and making plantation workers into land owners.

Quepos had been in a gentle downward transition since the 1940’s, when the United Fruit Company had given up farming bananas after the Panama banana disease had somehow followed them from Limon. Oil palm took the place of the bananas, but was much less profitable and employed many fewer people. The company railroad tracks were torn out in 1970 and the first vehicle road to the outside world was built in its place.

Musicians throughout the world have a good reputation for giving back to the community, especially to the next generation, the children, and Central America is no exception. Costa Rica’s three-time Grammy Award winners Editus are a good example. They have recorded twelve albums in their seventeen years together as a group and in an effort to give back to the community, they founded their Acadamie de las Artes in San Jose, Costa Rica in November 2004. It is a modern conservatory that integrates diverse elements of artistic development, not only for music but for dance, literature, theater, painting and photography as well. The music classes they offer are incredibly staffed and diverse, with three drum and percussion instructors, six teachers specializing in voice, lyrics and songwriting, four electric guitarists, six acoustic guitar instructors, two violinists, a cellist, five pianists, one saxophone teacher and a bass guitar instructor. Not surprisingly, some of the current teachers are former students, a sure sign of the Acadamie’s success. The academy also offers a sound lab to teach engineering, mixing, mastering, even DJ sampling. And there is a chorale group who performs a minimum of twice a year with selections as varied as Gospel and spiritual, Rock and Pop, Costa Rican and Latin American songs, in an effort to create a completely diverse chorus.

Costa Rica changed everything for me. I was a suburban London girl whose closest experience to wilderness had been the placid, ambling hills of the English countryside. They are quite charming but at 23 I wasn’t looking for charming, I was looking for great adventures in far-flung lands, challenges and discoveries.

So I came to Costa Rica and here was a land that appeared untameable. All those fierce rivers with their fierce will to flow, flanked by luxuriant rainforest, all the heavy mango-scented air. I swear I could even feel the earth’s pulse beneath the clay-rich soil. I ate rice and beans, my feet got dirty, my hair wild. I had found my place.